Victron Energy

Victron Energy systems (inverters, battery storage, solar chargers) expose their data via MQTT on the local network or through the VRM (Victron Remote Management) cloud portal. energy2mqtt connects directly to the Victron GX device’s MQTT interface to retrieve comprehensive energy data.

How It Works

Victron GX devices run Venus OS, which includes a built-in MQTT broker. energy2mqtt connects to this broker and automatically discovers all connected devices: grid meters, batteries, inverters (MultiPlus/Quattro), and solar chargers.

Typical Setup

[Grid Meter] ──┐
[Battery] ─────┼──> [Victron GX Device] <──(MQTT)──> [energy2mqtt] ──> [Home Assistant]
[MultiPlus] ───┘         │
[Solar] ─────────────────┘

Connection Options

Supported Devices

energy2mqtt automatically detects and reads data from:

Grid Meters

AC meters connected to the system (grid connection point):

Batteries

Battery systems (including Pylontech, BYD, Victron batteries):

Pylontech-specific data:

VEBus Devices (MultiPlus/Quattro)

Inverter/charger energy flow data:

Victron MQTT Protocol

Topic Structure

Victron uses a specific MQTT topic structure:

N/{portal_id}/{service}/{device_instance}/{path}

Read Requests

To get current values, energy2mqtt publishes to R/ topics:

Publish to: R/{portal_id}/grid/30/Ac/Power
Response on: N/{portal_id}/grid/30/Ac/Power

Message Format

Values are JSON-encoded:

{"value": 1234.5}

Configuration

Basic Configuration

Add to your e2m.yaml:

victron:
  - name: "home_system"
    enabled: true
    broker_host: "192.168.1.50"    # IP of your GX device
    broker_port: 1883
    client_name: "energy2mqtt"
    update_interval: 10            # Seconds between updates

Configuration Parameters

Multiple Systems

You can monitor multiple Victron systems:

victron:
  - name: "house_1"
    enabled: true
    broker_host: "192.168.1.50"
    broker_port: 1883
    update_interval: 10

  - name: "house_2"
    enabled: true
    broker_host: "192.168.1.51"
    broker_port: 1883
    update_interval: 10

Enabling MQTT on Your GX Device

By default, MQTT may not be enabled on your Victron GX device.

Via the GX Display/Touch

1. Go to Settings → Services
2. Enable MQTT on LAN
3. Note the IP address shown

Via VRM Portal

1. Log in to VRM Portal
2. Select your installation
3. Go to Settings → Remote Console
4. Navigate to Services → MQTT on LAN
5. Enable it

Via SSH (Advanced)

ssh root@192.168.1.50
# Default password: Check VRM or device documentation

# Enable MQTT
dbus -y com.victronenergy.settings /Settings/Services/MqttLocal SetValue 1

Auto-Discovery

energy2mqtt automatically discovers devices connected to the Victron system:

1. Portal ID Detection - Subscribes to N/+/system/0/Serial to find the system
2. AC Meter Detection - Reads number of AC inputs and their configuration
3. Battery Detection - Reads the battery array from system data
4. VEBus Detection - Finds MultiPlus/Quattro devices

All discovered devices are automatically registered with Home Assistant via MQTT auto-discovery.

Output Data

Home Assistant Entities

For each discovered device, energy2mqtt creates Home Assistant entities:

Grid Meter:

• sensor.victron_home_system_meter_xxx_power
• sensor.victron_home_system_meter_xxx_energy_positive
• sensor.victron_home_system_meter_xxx_energy_negative
• sensor.victron_home_system_meter_xxx_voltage_l1 (and L2, L3)
• sensor.victron_home_system_meter_xxx_frequency

Battery:

• sensor.victron_home_system_battery_0_soc
• sensor.victron_home_system_battery_0_soh
• sensor.victron_home_system_battery_0_power
• sensor.victron_home_system_battery_0_voltage
• sensor.victron_home_system_battery_0_temperature

Example Output JSON

{
  "meter_serial_power": 1523,
  "meter_serial_frequency": 50.01,
  "meter_serial_voltage_l1": 230.5,
  "meter_serial_energy_positive": 12345.67,
  "battery_0_soc": 85,
  "battery_0_power": -1200,
  "battery_0_voltage": 51.2,
  "vebus276_energy_inv_out": 234.5
}

Understanding Energy Flow

Victron systems track energy flow in multiple directions:

                    ┌─────────────┐
    AC-IN 1 ──────> │             │ ──────> AC-OUT
    (Grid)          │  MultiPlus  │         (Loads)
    AC-IN 2 ──────> │  /Quattro   │
    (Generator)     │             │
                    └──────┬──────┘
                           │
                           v
                    ┌─────────────┐
                    │   Battery   │
                    │   (DC Bus)  │
                    └─────────────┘

Energy counters explained:

Troubleshooting

Cannot Connect to MQTT

Check if MQTT is enabled:

# From a Linux machine on the same network
mosquitto_sub -h 192.168.1.50 -t "N/#" -v

You should see messages appearing. If not:

• Verify MQTT is enabled on the GX device
• Check firewall rules
• Verify IP address

No Devices Discovered

Check portal ID detection:

• Look in energy2mqtt logs for “Portal id found”
• If missing, the GX device might not be publishing system data

Verify system serial:

mosquitto_sub -h 192.168.1.50 -t "N/+/system/0/Serial" -v

Missing Data Points

Some values show as 0 or missing:

• Not all Victron devices report all values
• Check if the device is physically connected
• Some values only appear when relevant (e.g., L2/L3 on single-phase systems)

Connection Drops

Frequent disconnections:

• Increase update_interval to reduce load
• Check network stability
• Verify GX device isn’t overloaded with MQTT clients

Advanced: VRM Cloud MQTT

For remote access without local network connectivity, you can connect via VRM’s MQTT broker.

Related Resources

• Victron Venus OS Documentation
• VRM Portal
• Victron Community